Airbnb's new November rules: guest registration and Chekin

Airbnb is changing its rules for bookings made from 20 November 2026. It limits the contracts, personal data and outside websites a host can ask guests for. But it keeps an exception for what the law requires, such as guest registration in Spain. And until December it is testing its own guest registration with a company called Chekin.

None of these changes forces you to stop registering your guests the way you do today. What you do need to check is how you explain it in your listing. Here is what changes, what doesn’t and what to do.

Airbnb’s three changes at a glance

What changes for contracts, data and outside websites

The policy is called “Limiting host-imposed contracts and other requirements”. It replaces the old Off-Platform Policy. It is in Airbnb’s help centre, with the new version at the top and the old one at the bottom.

Contracts. As a rule, you can no longer ask guests to sign a separate contract. It is only allowed in four cases: when the law or a community association requires it, for an optional amenity, for stays of 28 nights or more, and for Luxe listings. If you used a contract for ordinary stays, look at our holiday rental contract template with this in mind.

Personal data. You can’t ask for phone numbers, email, addresses, ID documents, bank details or health data. You can look at a guest’s ID in person on arrival, if your listing says so. But you can’t keep a copy, unless an exception applies.

Outside apps and websites. You can’t require guests to use an app or register on another website to get in. A smart lock app is allowed if you offer another way in to anyone who asks.

The exception that matters to you. Collecting data or using a separate website is allowed “where necessary to comply with applicable law”. In Spain, Real Decreto 933/2021, a royal decree, requires collecting every guest’s details and their signature on a registration form. So you can keep asking for it, on three conditions:

1. Explain which details you ask for and why in the listing’s requests section, before the booking.
2. Don’t ask for more data than the law requires.
3. Store and delete that data securely. Airbnb may ask you for evidence that the exception applies.

What to write, and what to do if Airbnb flags your text, is in what to do when Airbnb flags your guest registration request.

What changes for house rules and requests

The second policy is called “House rules and reasonable requests”. It also applies to bookings from 20 November. It asks four things of every rule and request:

• Be in the listing at the time of booking. You can’t add new requests after the booking, “including by message, signs in the home, or in person”.
• Be consistent with the rest of the listing.
• Follow Airbnb’s policies, including the one on contracts and data.
• Be reasonable. For example, you can no longer ask guests to strip the beds, take out the rubbish or wash the dishes, or charge them fines.

The first point is the one that matters most for registration. Sending the check-in link after the booking is fine. But the registration has to be announced beforehand, under “Requests”. If it isn’t, the guest runs into a formality they didn’t see when they booked.

The listing editor checks requests when you add or change them. It flags anything that “may not comply” with its policies and explains why. If you save without changing it, it goes to review and Airbnb contacts you. A well-explained registration request can still get flagged. That doesn’t mean it is banned.

The booking date is what counts

Both new policies apply according to when the booking was made, not when the guest arrives.

An example. Lucía has a flat in Valencia. A booking made on 15 November for the early December bank holiday follows the old rule. Another one made on 21 November for the same dates follows the new one.

Also, a change to your requests only applies to bookings that come in afterwards. So it’s worth reviewing your listing now, before 20 November, not on the day.

What Airbnb’s registration pilot with Chekin is

Airbnb is testing a feature to collect guests’ details in its app and send them to the authorities. It does this through Chekin, a Spanish online check-in company. The conditions are in the pilot registration service terms. This is what they say:

• Where and when. Spain and Italy, September to December 2026. Airbnb can change the dates and add other places.
• Who can use it. Airbnb chooses the hosts and confirms it in writing. You must be the listing owner (not a co-host) and have an active account on the government registration platform.
• What it costs. No additional fees, only for listings in the pilot and only during the pilot.
• It’s optional. For hosts and for guests, who can give their details in person or another way.
• When it is sent. The details go to the authorities through Chekin after the guest checks in.
• One condition. Hosts may not use their own standalone Chekin account for the pilot listings while it runs. That condition is about Chekin, not about other tools.

The key part is in the small print. The host is still responsible. Airbnb says it doesn’t verify the data and doesn’t guarantee you comply with the law. You have to check the details, repeat submissions when the law requires it, and fix the ones that fail or are rejected. In its help page for guests, Airbnb adds that the host will still have to confirm the details when the guest arrives.

Airbnb also doesn’t guarantee that the pilot will continue or be offered to more hosts.

What we don’t know yet about the pilot

The public terms don’t answer these questions. We won’t fill the gaps with guesses:

• Whether it continues after December or reaches every host.
• What it will cost when the pilot ends, if it continues.
• How the form is signed. RD 933/2021 requires every person over fourteen to sign, and article 4224 doesn’t detail how signatures are collected in the pilot.
• How the data is kept. The law requires professional hosts to keep the register for three years. Article 4224 says that duty is the host’s, but doesn’t detail whether the pilot covers it.
• What happens with changes and cancellations. The terms leave repeat submissions to the host.
• What about your other channels. The pilot is for Airbnb bookings. Booking.com or direct bookings need another route.
• Catalonia and the Basque Country. There the form goes to the regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Ertzaintza. The terms only mention “the applicable government authorities”.

If you already use Regi

You don’t need to switch tools because of these announcements. What we recommend:

1. Review your listing request before 20 November. It should give the law, the details, when and how, and the in-person option. The text is in what to do when Airbnb flags your guest registration request.
2. Keep sending the link after the booking, through the Airbnb chat. That doesn’t change.
3. Don’t ask for more than the form requires. Never a photo of an ID. We explain why in why you shouldn’t ask guests for a copy of their ID.
4. If Airbnb invites you to the pilot, decide listing by listing and make sure each stay is reported once, not twice and not zero times. Before turning it on for a property you already have in Regi, write to us and we’ll go through it with you.

Regi works the same for your Booking.com, other-site and direct bookings. Your Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo or Holidu calendar syncs by iCal, and the check-in link works for all of them. How Booking.com works for hosts is in our Booking.com guide for owners.

Airbnb’s registration pilot through Chekin compared with Regi

This table compares the pilot as Airbnb’s article 4224 describes it with what Regi does today. Where that article gives no detail, we say so.

Comparison with the pilot described in Airbnb’s article 4224, checked on 28 October 2026. It doesn’t cover Chekin’s whole commercial offer. That article not detailing something doesn’t mean the feature doesn’t exist.

The last row is the same in both columns on purpose. No tool, Regi included, takes the registration obligations off the holder. It takes the work off you.

Frequently asked questions

Does Airbnb make hosts use Chekin for guest registration? No. It is an optional pilot for the hosts Airbnb chooses, until December 2026. You can keep using another tool or do it in person.

Can I keep using Regi with Airbnb after 20 November? Yes, as long as you explain registration under “Requests” before the booking and ask only for the details the law requires. Airbnb’s policy allows collecting data or using another website when the law requires it. Airbnb doesn’t approve specific tools; it looks at how you explain it.

Is Airbnb’s registration with Chekin free? During the pilot, Airbnb charges no additional fees for the listings taking part. We don’t know what happens afterwards: the terms don’t guarantee the service will continue.

Can I ask my Airbnb guests to sign a contract? From 20 November 2026, only in specific cases: when the law or a community association requires it, for an optional amenity, for stays of 28 nights or more, or for Luxe listings. The guest registration form is not a contract.

What about bookings made before 20 November? They follow the previous policy, even if the guest arrives later. That policy asks you to explain registration in the listing description.

Details and sources

Checked on 27 October 2026. Airbnb’s policies and the pilot terms can change. Check the official pages before acting.

The contracts and other requirements policy. It applies to “reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026”. The exception allows collecting data or registering on a separate website “where necessary to: Comply with applicable law or a documented community association rule”. The host must disclose “what information is required of guests, and why, in the requests section of their listing page” and “may not collect more data than the law or rule calls for”. Enforcement ranges from warnings to suspending or removing listings, or the account for repeat violations.

The house rules and reasonable requests policy. It applies to bookings confirmed on or after 20 November 2026. If a rule or request doesn’t comply, Airbnb can warn the host, ask them to update the listing, post a notice on the listing page or reduce its visibility in search.

The pilot terms. They define Chekin as “Chekin Soluciones Digitales, S.L.”, the pilot area as Italy and Spain plus any other location Airbnb designates, and the period as September to December 2026, subject to change. Requirements include not using, or ceasing to use, any standalone Chekin account for the participating listings during the pilot, and having an active account on the relevant government registration platform. Airbnb states that neither it nor the pilot verifies the data submitted, and that it doesn’t guarantee the pilot will continue.

Real Decreto 933/2021. Article 4.2 requires every person over fourteen to sign the form. Article 5.3 sets three years’ retention of the register, and article 5.4 exempts non-professional hosts from it, though they still have to report the details. Article 6.3 sets reports within 24 hours of the booking or its cancellation and of the start of the stay.

• Airbnb: limiting host-imposed contracts and other requirements
• Airbnb: house rules and reasonable requests
• Airbnb: add house rules and requests to your listing
• Airbnb: pilot registration service terms
• Airbnb: booking requirements (guest registration pilot)
• Real Decreto 933/2021, consolidated text (BOE)